Joseph of Arimathea was a wealthy
disciple of Jesus, who, according to the book of Matthew 27:57-60, asked
Pontius Pilate for permission to take Jesus' dead body in order to prepare
it for burial. He also provided the tomb where the crucified Lord was laid
until his Resurrection. Joseph is mentioned in a few times in parallel
passages in Mark, Luke and John, but nothing further is heard about his
later activities.

Apocryphal legend, however, supplies
us with the rest of his story by claiming that Joseph accompanied the
Apostle Philip, Lazarus, Mary Magdalene & others on a preaching
mission to Gaul. Lazarus & Mary stayed in Marseilles, while the others
travelled north. At the English Channel, St.Philip sent Joseph, with
twelve disciples, to establish Christianity in the most far-flung corner
of the Roman Empire: the Island of Britain. The year AD 63 is commonly
given for this "event", with AD 37 sometimes being put forth as
an alternative. It was said that Joseph achieved his wealth in the metals
trade, and in the course of conducting his business, he probably became
acquainted with Britain, at least the south-western parts of it. Cornwall
was a chief mining district and well-known in the Roman empire for its
tin. Somerset was reknowned for its high quality lead. Some have even said
that Joseph was the uncle of the Virgin Mary and therefore of Jesus, and
that he may have brought the young boy along on one of his business trips
to the island. Hence the words of Blake's famous hymn, Jerusalem:

And did those
feet, in ancient time,
Walk upon England's mountains green?

It was only natural, then, that
Joseph should have been chosen for the first mission to Britain, and
appropriate that he should come first to Glastonbury, that gravitational
center for legendary activity in the West Country. Local legend has it
that Joseph sailed around Land's End and headed for his old lead mining
haunts. Here his boat ran ashore in the Glastonbury Marshes and, together
with his followers, he climbed a nearby hill to survey the surrounding
land. Having brought with him a staff grown from Christ's Holy Crown of
Thorns, he thrust it into the ground and announced that he and his twelve
companions were "Weary All". The thorn staff immediately took
miraculous root, and it can be seen there still on Wearyall Hill. Joseph
met with the local ruler, Arviragus, and soon secured himself twelve hides
of land at Glastonbury on which to build the first monastery in Britain.
From here he became the country's evangelist.

Much more was added to Joseph's
legend during the Middle Ages. He was gradually inflated into a major
saint and cult hero, as well as the supposed ancestor
of many British monarchs. He is said to have brought with him to
Britain a cup, said to have been used at the Last Supper and also used to
catch the blood dripping from Christ as he hung on the Cross. A variation
of this story is that Joseph brought with him two cruets, one containing
the blood and the other, the sweat of Christ. Either of these items are
known as The Holy Grail, and
were the object(s) of the quests of the Knights of King Arthur's Round
Table. One legend goes on to suggest that Joseph hid the "Grail"
in Chalice Well at
Glastonbury for safe-keeping.

There is a wide variance of
scholarly opinion on this subject, however, and a good deal of doubt
exists as to whether Joseph ever came to Britain at all, for any purpose.